East Kingdom Gazette

Greetings from Mael Eoin mac Echuid, Interim EK ​Webminister
​
The webministry has had a report of a phishing attempt on a Kingdom officer this week, and figured it’d be a good time to remind all those who have an East Kingdom email address of the following:

No one in the East Kingdom Webministry will ever ask you for your password or *especially* not for other non-SCA personal information via email. We never need your password from you; we can reset it for you if you need it, but we don’t ever need to _know_ your password for anything. Anyone who asks for it is not representing the Kingdom or this office.

Here’s is an example email, broken down into pieces, with some hints and comments:

Subject: Scheduled Maintenance & UpgradeDate: 2017-08-14 14:28From: Help Desk <jsmith@royalfair.org>To: <signet@eastkingdom.org>Reply-To: help.desk.team.center@tech-center.com
First off, notice the “From” line. jsmith@royalfair.org isn’t official, and nothing official would be coming from a personal email address.
All official correspondence – not just from our office, but all official emails – come from @eastkingdom.org addresses. So if you don’t see @eastkingdom.org, don’t trust the email.
Your account is in the process of being upgraded to the newest Windows-based servers and an enhanced online email interface inline with internet infrastructure Maintenance. The new servers will provide better anti-spam and anti-virus functions, along with IMAP Support for mobile devices to enhance your usage.
They throw jargon around here. Some of it even makes sense, but the long and short of it is that if this were the Webministry, we would use more user-friendly language to explain what was going on.
To ensure that your account is not disrupted but active during and after this upgrade, you are required to kindly confirm your account by stating the details below:* Domain\user name:* Password:
No. Never.

We know your username and we don’t ever need your password.

Sincerely,Customer Care Team
This is also a red flag. Whoever is sending the email will sign it with their SCA name and title/role in the Webministry. You can look us up on the EK wiki, reach out to us on Facebook or via email, but you will _always_ have a name to associate with any email we send out.
If you aren’t sure, forward the email to us with a note. Don’t reply to the email, it’ll signal that they successfully reached a live account and they might keep trying.​

Another Pennsic War has come and gone, and now it’s time for the artisans of the East to focus on just one thing: entries for Artifacts of a Life!

Artifacts of a Life III will be held in the Barony Beyond the Mountain (New Britain, CT) on September 30, 2017. Artifacts is a different sort of arts competition: entries must be “themed” – the theme is things that would have been used/owned by a single individual sometime in period. Possibly they are the items that would have been left in a will, or even just the day to day paraphernalia of life. They do not have to be items owned by your persona, but they do have to be linked to one person in one time/place.

There are three categories: Typical, Elite, and Village. The Typical category must include 3 to 5 items from a single culture and time. The Elite category will include 6 to 9 items from a single culture and time. And for the communally ambitious, the Village category will allow you to work with others in a team to collaboratively create 6 to 9 items. To flog the horse, all of the items in an entry must be placed within a uniform time and culture.

And prizes! Did we mention the lovely prizes? As at the first two events, we will be bestowing hand-made wooden chests stuffed with materials to make the fingers of even hardened artisans twitch with avarice.

The event announcement is here. The event website, with information about the rules, and pre-registration is here. Please watch both spaces for updated information, as details about the event itself are always changing.

Entrants
PLEASE NOTE: Entry in the competition REQUIRES pre-registration with Mistress Elizabeth Vynehorn (vynehorn (at) gmail.com) by September 23, 2017. Please see the contest rules at https://sca-artifactschallenge.blogspot.com/p/contest-rules.html for more information.
If you have not specifically notified her of your intention to compete, we will not be able to accept your entry. This is for the benefit of the contestants. Knowing at least roughly what you plan to enter allows us to recruit the best possible judges to give you the best possible feedback. Without pre-registration we will not have sufficient/appropriate judges.

Judges Needed
If you are available and interested in judging for Artifacts, please let us know. Recruiting judges is by far the most difficult aspect of the event, and if you can assist we would be most grateful. Please contact Mistress Elizabeth or Baron Jehan du Lac via the website or event announcement.
As a thank you to those who give of their time to judge, a hearty and delicious dayboard will be provided to judges at no cost.

The Gazette thanks the King’s Champion of Arts and Sciences, Lady Raziya bint Rusa, for this report.

The East Kingdom’s team of artisans displayed a wide array of fabulous skills at the Pennsic 46 Arts and Sciences War Point. Below, we are pleased to provide some highlights of their work.

A deliberately forged charter scroll for the College of Scribes of the East Kingdom, based on a 16th Century papal bull. Calligraphy and illumination by Duchess Thyra Eiriksdottir. The seal (not part of competition) was made by Master Aaron the Arrowsmith.

The reference document was a papal bull, and was chosen for its complexity and topic. The original has about 1850 words, and is the charter for St. Mary’s College. In addition to the reference material having clear parallels in use, the concept of a deliberate forgery is medieval.

Many medieval organizations would write up charters after they were established, because they needed a document to prove legitimacy. This was done despite the fact that the documents may not have been required when the organization was founded. The East Kingdom College of Scribes is in a similar situation, with no royal charter on record. This charter was not made to be an official charter, but instead to translate the concept of an official forgery to Society culture.

The charter itself is very similar to the original but not an exact copy. The scale is smaller because of the cost of parchment. The ink is walnut instead of black keeping with the ink of the original.

The text has undergone small changes in order to make the references to SCA culture, instead of the Roman Catholic Church. The beginning and ending lines have likewise been changed to note that the document is not official, and the date is written to society standards. Some of the changed lines now read (in translation): “By the order/request of the Signet, this document has absolutely no legal standing. In fact, this document should not be taken seriously.”

This dress was made as an imitation of a wealthy noblewoman’s gown, and as such is fairly sumptuous. It is not as ornamented or as expensive as that of the queen. The garment is made of silk and linen and contains artificial pearls and metal accents.

The outer dress is red silk with white silk lining the tippets; linen lines the rest of the garment. The most expensive fabric is used on the most visible areas, and more utilitarian fabric is used elsewhere. This is an appropriate medieval practice that was deliberately duplicated here .

Internal non-visible seams were machine sewed to save time, due to time constraints. All visible seams were hand sewed, and can be seen in the felling of the body seams. The dress is covered in 36 “pearled” roses. Each rose took approximately a half hour to create.

The apron and samples of Reticello on display are based on 16th Century Italian lacemaking. This project was made more difficult to research because the all extant examples of the craft are later than 1600, despite confirmation that the craft occurred before 1600.

Reticello is the earliest documented form of needle lace. The process involves removing threads from the construction of the fabric and binding the remaining threads together into artistic patterns. The challenge arises from engineering the product to be both beautiful and structural.

The apron is made of 4.5 oz Barry weight weight linen with 60/2 linen thread for the lace. It has 23 2″ squares of reticello lace in a line through the lower part of the garment. Each square takes approximately 6-8 hours of work. Not including the sewing, or practive, this accounts for 138-184 hours of labor. There should be three additional vertical lines of lace on the apron to be more accurate to Italian aesthetics. The lacing was limited due to time constraints.

Viking silver spiral armring, Smithing by Duke Kenric aet Essex

This piece is made as a copy of an extant silver example from a Swedish museum. The armring was for a woman and likely dated to the 8th century.

The ring was constructed carefully because, due to cost of materials, there would not be an opportunity for a second chance at making the armring. 30″ (8.5 oz) of sterling silver bar were required to make the piece. Sterling was used instead of pure silver, because medieval silver was not very pure.

Practice for the final work was done in copper, although copper has significantly different properties when working. Silver melts quickly – a property which almost resulted in the loss of the piece.

The piece required forming by hammer, annealing, twisting, polishing, and stamping. The stamping was made with a tool that had two triangular shapes on it. The squares on the final product are the negative space left over between the stamped impressions.

Laurel headdress in the style of the 14th century. Metalwork by Master Stefan of Silverforge.

The laurel wreath was created in the style of wreaths seen in illustrations in the 14th Century. No surviving laurel wreaths from that time have been found, but older Greek and Roman versions exist. Given the context of one illustration – gold leaves, the brittle nature of real laurel, and the presence of the leaves upon an emperor – the assumption is that the illustration depicts a metal, rather than a real wreath made of the laurel plant.

The wreath was made of brass rather than gold, due to finanical concerns. Sheets of brass were soldered to wire in pairs; each pair was then attached to a spine. The brass pieces were so thin that several wore through during construction and had to be remade. Embossing veins on the leaves was done with fingernail and blunt pencil.

In period this kind of work would have been done with an alcohol blow lamp; this piece was made with a propane plumbers torch. A mix of ash, sand, and pumice in a matrix of wax and oil would have been used to clean up the marking and flux from construction. It would have been manipulated with sticks when applied to the metal; in this case a modern dremel with scouring pads was used because of time constraints.

NB: All photographs of the exhibition graciously provided by Mistress Anastasia Gutane.

The Gazette thanks Mistress Ygraine of Kellswood for the following report.

The Midrealm-East-Ealdormere side has taken all 3 populace war points in Archery! Each of the three traditional shoots — presented with a Norse theme this year — was worth one war point. Archers could shoot each one up to five times during the War.

The Castle Window was a 30 second timed shoot at a distance of about 30 yards. Archers launched as many arrows or bolts as they were able in that time at a target representing a castle window slot. Hits in the slot were worth 1 point each; hits on the small white Thor’s hammer inside the slot were worth 2 points each. The AEthelmearc-Atlantia-Allies team scored a total of 1446 points; team Midrealm-East-Ealdormere scored 1836.

The “Soldiers” this year were pairs of Frost Giants at 15 yards, 35 yards, 45 yards and 55 yards. Archers could launch 6 arrows at the targets of their choice, worth 1, 2, 3 or 4 points respectively (for a maximum of 24 points per end). The AEthelmearc-Atlantia-Allies side scored 5189 total points; the Midrealm-East-Ealdormere side scored 7696.

The Clout consisted of a Giant at 100 yards inside a castle turret. On the way to that target was a serpent in a moat at approximately 50 yards. Hits landing in the moat were worth 1 point; hits on the serpent were 2 points; shots landing inside the castle were worth 3 points; and hits on the Giant earned 4 points. Archers could launch 6 arrows at the targets of their choice (for a maximum, again, of 24 points per end). The A-A-A archers totaled 4176 points; the M-E-E archers scored 6423.

Thanks to all the archers who shot and to all the marshals who worked so hard to make everything run smoothly and safely!

The EK-Mid won the final Rapier War point, taking the Strongholds Battle three minutes faster than the Aethlemarc Alliance.
EK-Mid Rapier Army won 13 of the 14 possible war points this year.Filed under: Pennsic, Rapier Tagged: Pennsic, Rapier

The Gazette thanks Serafina Della Torre for the following report on the Thrown Weapons War Point.

On the last Thursday of Pennsic War 46, throwers and royalty from around the Known World assembled to compete for the Pennsic Thrown Weapons Champions War Point in a tournament designed by Marshal in Charge, Altan of the Moritu. The tournament consisted of 12 champions representing kingdoms throughout the world. They competed in a challenging axe, knife, and spear tournament consisting of eight hard and soft targets. Participants were given specific challenges for scoring including cutting rope, hitting certain small areas of an imagine, and could have points deducted if the wrong areas were hit. Throwers were also challenged to use varying technique for throwing spear, being required to throw both under and over handed. If a weapon penetrated a target and fell out, no points are given, causing the notable quote from Tristan of Northshield: “Hurry up! Score me! Score me! There’s a breeze!”

The victor was determined by team total score. Aethelmearc and Allies had a resounding victory with 795 total points against the East, Middle, and Allies 434. The tournament had a possible 240 point perfect score for each thrower. Tristan was the highest single score with 95 points. Sir Cedric of Thanet was the highest East, Middle, and Allies team scorer with 75 points. Marshal Altan celebrated Catriona MacDhonnachaidh for throwing in full period garb. Several assembled marshals and audience members noted the courtesy, comportment, and collegiality shown by contestants of both teams toward one another.

This year’s Pennsic War is a contest between the Kingdoms of the East, the Middle, and Ealdormere and their allies vs Æthelmearc and Northshield and their allies.

Yesterday’s Armored Woods Battle was a tie with two points going to each side. The Combat Archery and Siege Battle that was also held yesterday was won by the East, Middle, Ealdormere and Allies and was worth one point.

Today’s Armored Allied Champions Battle was won by the East, Middle, Ealdormere and Allies for one point. The Thrown Weapons Champions Throw went to Æthelmearc, Northshield and their allies and was worth one point. The top Thrown Weapon’s scorer for the East was Sir Cedric of Thanet, the King’s Champion.

The following information on the Archery Champion Team Competition was reported by Mistress Ygraine of Kellswood.

The Middle-East-Ealdormere team won 1 of the available war points, and the AEthelmearc-Atlantia-Allies team won 2. Each point was based on total points scored in each of the three shoots.

This year’s Pennsic War is a contest between the Kingdoms of the East, the Middle, and Ealdormere and their allies vs Æthelmearc and Northshield and their allies.

EK-Mid Rapier earned another four War Points.

The EK-Mid Rapier Army took all four time checks in the Woods Battle today. They captured 11 of 12 flags over the course of the four checks.
Filed under: Pennsic Tagged: pennsic 46, pennsic war points, Rapier

This year’s Pennsic War is a contest between the Kingdoms of the East, the Middle, and Ealdormere and their allies vs Aethelmearc and Northshield and their allies.

Today seven of the 41 war points were decided:

The East/Mid Alliance swept the day.
EK/Mid won all four passes of the Rapier Field Battle for four points. Their performance was dominant.
EK/Mid also won all three time checks of the Rapier Ruins Battle for three points. It was a hard fought struggle.
EK/Mid Rapier Army won a total of seven points. Aethelmearc Alliance Rapier got zero points today.Filed under: Pennsic Tagged: pennsic 46, pennsic war points, Rapier

For the period of thirty days, starting yesterday, I will be the interim East Kingdom Webminister. After that period, an announcement will be made regarding the full Kingdom Webminister position.

Lord Lorenz and I will be at the East Kingdom Webminister meeting at War on Thursday (EK Royal, 3pm to 5pm). If there’s anything that I can help with in the role, I can be found there or otherwise at N11 Barony of Bhakail. Otherwise, email (mbroggy@gmail.com), Facebook or phone (484-442-0278) will continue to work, and we’ll be switching the kingdom email address over soon.

The second of two practice/tryout sessions was held today for the East/Midrealm Archery Champions Team. The East and Middle each have 14 team members and 5 alternates, and there are 2 champions from Ealdormere — for a total of 30 team members and 10 alternates.

The 14 Eastern team members selected are:

Godric of Hamtun, Captain General of Archers

Colin Ursell, Deputy Captain of Archers

Kusunoki Yoshimoto, King’s Archery Champion

Siobhan ingean Cormaic, Queen’s Archery Champion

Rupert the Unbalanced

Li Kung Lo

Treya min Teanga

Ygraine of Kellswood

Shi Tian

Mikjall Bogmadr

Kieran Bren of Bannockburn

Meruit Kieransdottir

Peter the Red

Nathaniel Wyatt

The 5 Eastern alternates are:

Cathain

Eoin an Doire

Nest verch Tangwystel

Kobayashi Yutaka

Aaron the Arrowsmith

While the list of Midrealm team members is not known to this reporter, it is believed that Dorigen of Lewes is included in their number, as he is a former resident of the Mid and holds their archery award of the Dragon’s Barb.

The Archery Champions Competition takes place on Thursday, starting about 9am and running for most of the day.

Unto the Populace of the East does Malcolm Bowman, Brigantia Principal Herald, send greetings!

The Pennsic War is nearly upon us! As is traditional, the East Kingdom will be marching out to the field as a part of the opening ceremonies Saturday night at 7pm (on the Battlefield or in the Barn, weather dependent).

The Baronies of the Kingdom of the East assemble to march with their crown, and any Shire or other group may also be lined up to join the processional. Assembly for the procession will begin at 6pm Saturday night on the road outside of EK Royal.

On Saturday, August 5th, 2017, I will be hosting A Walk Among the
Pines at the Cathedral of the Pines in Rindge, NH (10 Hale Hill Rd.,
Rindge NH). We’ll be open from 10am to 5pm, and it looks to be a
beautiful and fun filled day!

Current presentations include examples of needlework, illuminated
pages and scrolls, an introductory look at Period Firearms, basic
heraldry for the SCA, period embroidery and weaving, a fencing
demonstration, a heavy fighting demo, a display of inkle loom and
lucet work, medieval archery, bowyery, and fletching, and drop spindle
weaving, along with a lot of fun, music, and camaraderie!

For the next two weeks, the Gazette editorial staff will be split between Pennsic and home. If you have information that you would like us to share about events at Pennsic or elsewhere, please send it as usual to eastkingdomgazette@gmail.com. We’ll be watching the email. All post are automatically shared to our Facebook, Google+ and Twitter accounts.

The following is a message from Duchess Avelina Keyes, with regard to the recent changes to the way that polls are sent out to members of the East Kingdom Polling Orders.

Hey folks,

A few notes on the polling process. Here in the East, the polling job is split between two people, Duchess Katherine Stanhope and me.

I handle the software side of the polls. I maintain the awards recommendation form and I put together the polls that the Royalty want.

Duchess Katherine handles distribution.

Each Order has *two* lists. One, the “Discussion list” is for Companions of the Order to discuss candidates and other issues pertinent to the Order. The second is the polling distribution list. That is where Duchess Katherine sends the polls. It is possible to sign up for one and not the other. To sign up for those lists, please visit this link:

Yes, there is a two step process now. This is to prevent anonymous viewing of the polls. The link you get from Duchess Katherine is a “registration” link. Those records who and what email address requested the poll. That info goes into a token table and a unique URL to the poll is generated for *you* and sent to the email you provided. Once you get the poll, yes, you must enter your personal info again. That is because the token table and the data from the polls go to two separate places. The Royalty like to know who has replied to their polls and a way to contact folks if they have questions. That’s why we ask for it in the polls.

I’ve gone into the system to look for errors. A common error I am seeing is that you are spelling your email address wrong. Maybe dropping a vowel in your name, or typing “gmaol” instead of “gmail”. Also, fake email addresses won’t work. If you enter b@b.com as your email, and you don’t actually have access to that account, you won’t get your unique link.

And, a huge shout out to Baron Mael Eoin mac Echuid for checking out the back end delivery issues.

A guide from Mistress Leonete D’Angely, East Kingdom Chancellor Minor and Pennsic Youth University Coordinator

What Can I Do At Pennsic?

So you are in the 11-17 age range, and you are going to Pennsic. Maybe you are super excited. Maybe you are going because Mom and Dad said so. Maybe you wait all year to be able to fight twice a day. Maybe you aren’t so sure there is anything that interests you in this SCA thing. Either way, there is so much for your age group to do at Pennsic. This is a basic overview of some of the options. There is no way I could fit all of the activities into one article, so please check the Pennsic University Schedule and your site book for more ideas and options.

Martial Activities

Armored and Rapier Combat are the two main activities where youth cannot generally participate alongside adults. We do have Youth Rapier and Youth Armored Combat! These activities require special equipment. There may be some for loan, but you would need to check in at that activity. You should bring your parent/guardian with you at least the first time and then ask about the specific rules from there.

Archery – Range is open with some exceptions from 8/2-8/4 11:00AM – 3:00PM, 8/5-8/9, and 8/11 9:00AM – 5:00PM. There is a family range geared towards those under 14, but youth are also welcome to shoot at the other ranges. There is a youth specific tournament on 8/8 at NOON.

Youth Choir– 8/6-8/9 NOON – 1:00PM. Geared for those gentles aged 12-19. There is a children’s choir as well for the younger set. Performance is the evening of Thursday, 8/10.

Classes

Want to learn something new? The only classes off limits to those under 18 are classes that are clearly marked as such, usually because they involve alcohol, mature topics, or are in private camps. Youth are welcome at all other Pennsic University classes. However, we have organized a set of classes geared specifically towards youth and teens. You can find them by searching YouthU or TeenU on the PennsicU website. There are a ton of classes, but here are a few highlights:

Do a martial activity? Play a sport at home? Learn some strategies for increasing your strength and endurance with Teen Training (8/4 10:00AM – 11:00AM) Bring a towel or yoga mat.

Learn about service and getting what you want out of events with Retaining 101 (8/2 11:00AM – NOON) , Youth Ideas Matter (8/6 2:00PM – 3:00PM), and I Want to Help At Events (8/7 3:00PM – 4:00PM),

Want to learn how to make your voice carry? Interested in reading scrolls? These classes are for you! Public Speaking for Teens (8/3 10:00AM-11:00AM), Tournament Heraldry and List Running(8/6 1:00PM– 1:30PM), and Voice Heraldry (8/10 NOON – 1:00PM)

Volunteering

Pennsic Runs on volunteers, and there are a lot of places where youth are welcome to help. Volunteer Point is open 9:00AM-2:00PM daily at the Town Hall next to the ice store. They can help match you with volunteer opportunities appropriate for your age and skills.

Other Events of Note

Youth A&S Display: This is a non-judged display open to all youth. It is located at Family Point, on Monday, August 7th. Set-up from 9:00AM-10:00AM; items on display from 10:00AM – NOON; clean-up from NOON – 12:30PM. Submission forms for entries will be available online and at Family Point.

EK Teen Party – Monday, August 7th from 7:00PM – 10:00PM in EK Royal. Open to all gentles 13-17

We all have different reasons for why we enjoy being a part of the SCA. Sometimes it’s difficult to put into words. Raiya Corsiglia, from Caid, has showcased those feelings in her film, “SCA – The Dream,” using no words at all. She is most graciously allowing it to be shared.